Trail Boss 32-20 (Quiet Loads)

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I'm sure it's not as good to have the flame further back in chamber but I think at such low pressure the gun will be OK.

It's the same concept as shooting a 22 Short in a 22 LR chamber.
 
The more I look at it the more I think the 1.250" brass (picture 1, right of pic 3, and right of picture 4) is good. Easy number to use too.
 
98s1lightning said:
Hah the brass ends up running past the start of the bullet ogive. (In other words it would look like you seated a bullet waaayyyyyyy to deep if you left brass stock length.
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Taper crimp just enough to make the neck touch the bullet.
 
Unfortunately this Browning 53 which is supposedly 1 in 18 twist WILL NOT stabilize these PRVI 150gr fmj bt bullets. Which sucks cuz I thought was going to really like them. The bullet is doing a giant twist as it goes down range similar to if you had a spring shaped like a cone.

Back to the 123's.

If anyone's interested in these 150gr boats tails let me know I'll probably sell them.
 
Good news on TB.

85gr XTP over 4.0 grains left the barrel OK. Sound level seems about the same as the Unique. I'll do some more testing tomorow.

(I loaded some 3.5's-what I calculated for minimum load-but am hesitant to firr them until I chrono the 4.0 loads.)
 
98s1lightning said:
Good news on TB.

85gr XTP over 4.0 grains left the barrel OK. Sound level seems about the same as the Unique. I'll do some more testing tomorow.

(I loaded some 3.5's-what I calculated for minimum load-but am hesitant to firr them until I chrono the 4.0 loads.)
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Um, Trail Boss says to not use more than 2.8 grains for a 90 grain bullet. I think you should back that charge with the 85 gr XTP down to more recommended data that Hodgdon provides. They say 2.8 grains max for a 90 grain bullet.
 
The data you see is for a lead bullet.
I followed the instructions from Hodgdon and am CERTAIN these are safe loads. They are over 70% remaining case capacity under bullet and NOT compressed.

Also this Browning 53 can handle the more modern loads even some published with H110.

I will chrono the 4.0grs TB shortly. I'm undecided if I want to fire the 3.5gr loads or work my way down 0.1gr at a time since I'm unfamiliar with this powder.
 
I am very concerned that a small drop in powder charge, say 0.1 grains could be 50fps. Hypothetically if 4.0 grains was 800fps and I dropped 0.2 grains which brought to 700fps I would say 3.8 is my minimum because at this slow a muzzle velocity I'm worrying about sticking a bullet.

I do not forsee loads with 85gr jacketed hornady xtp going below 3.5 grains but I will report back once I get some proof.
 
I haven't read the whole thread so I hope I am not stepping on anyones toes. I had a Marlin 20" barrel 1894 in 32 mag and I loaded some rounds with 1.5grs of Bullseye and they shot 930fps over the chronograph and were just a little loader than CB 22 rounds. I was using a 76gr Hunters Supply lead bullet from Midway. I shot all 50 of them up in one session. They were fun to shoot.:D

I see you are using 303 jacketed bullets for this? Jacketed bullets and low velocity especially from a long barrel is a bad idea and likely to get a bullet stuck in the bore. I would stick to lead bullets myself.
 
I haven't worked with lead yet but am considering it.

I am aware of the risk of jacketed sticking.

The 303 bullets in 150gr were a fail. Rifle will only stabilize up to 125gr.
 
I just ran over the chrono

2 rounds at 4.0 right around 1100fps

A few at 3.5 grains 900fps to 1050fps. Kind of a big spread.

I'm going to load up some 3.2 and 3.4 (maybe 1 or 2 @ 3.0 and call that absolute lowest charge depending on how powder acts)
 
Chronographing just two shots tells you almost nothing about the load’s performance. A 150 fps spread with just a “few” shots indicates that the actual average fps is not known - another 3 shots could give the OP a 250 fps spread or more. If he cares about his true average and maximum fps (and he should if he wants a minimum subsonic report) he should fire at least five shots.
.
 
Here is a video of a guy shooting light loads from an H&R Handi rifle in 357 using a "Light Load" of Trail Boss and 158gr lead bullets for 606fps. He starts shooting at about the 5 minute mark. I think this is what you trying to do.



But for loads under a 1,000fps from a rifle barrel I sure hope you switch to lead bullets. Maybe some 90-100gr lead and a light charge of Bullseye. Some 115gr bullets are also available. Maybe 3gs and work down and keep using the chrono.
 
12 shots of 3.2 grains of Trail Boss under 85gr jacketed hornady xtp.
Lowest 920fps highest 980fps
Still right around 22 short noise level. Has a small crack to it. Not bad at all though. Have to have my girlfriend compare sound with her phone app.

I'm going to load a "big" (like 30 rounds) batch of 3.0 grains and hopefully that will put me at 850-900fps and I'll call that my load. As long as it stays consistent over chrono.
 
The nice thing too is I'm making hits at 80 yards.

I have 124gr fmj pointed bullets coming too (0.311 different than the hornady I was running). I will most likely have an accuracy shootout between those and these to find the perfect 100 yard combination.
 
Since I was running 3.2 at 920fps to 980fps and 3.0 was a bad load (almost squib) at 333fps....

I will be running at minimum 3.3 grains of powder with the 85gr XTP.
 
98s1lightning said:
Since I was running 3.2 at 920fps to 980fps and 3.0 was a bad load (almost squib) at 333fps....

I will be running at minimum 3.3 grains of powder with the 85gr XTP.
Click to expand...

Probably not enough bullet resistance with that fluffy powder to get it burning properly. I guess you are weighing each charge to get from 3 to 3.3grs difference. Do you not have any fast burning powders on hand to try? Like Bullseye, Titegroup, red dot or AA #2? Maybe 231? One article I read on reloading Rook & Rabbit rifles the fellow used 4.5grs of Unique for every round. He was not looking for light loads and was getting around 1100fps. I suspect a reduced charge of Unique would work but not as well as the faster burning powders I listed.
 
I weigh each charge with RCBS Chargemaster.

Trail Boss is the fastest I have loaded it successfully down to 3.2

I have been using Unique with similar results successfully down to 3.8 grains.
 
I also don't have experience with fast powders and do not want any powder that is not bulky. For ease of visually seeing no double charge, that's why I picked up the TB "fast" and bulky.
 
I'm not sure if the 100 grain XTP with more resistance/engagement with the rifling while also increasing case pressure would be for better or for worse.

I guess I'll find out when I load the 124 pointed bullets, but I believe they have less engagement to the barrel than the XTP and they are 0.311 not 0.312 so I guess they aren't much of a comparison at all.

Just the more I ponder it, the more I think there must be an ideal charge weight to bullet weight (controlling case capacity) I just haven't found it yet.

What I have come up with is certainly useable, I just don't want to leave anything on the table.
 
The other thing I'm going to do is put 0.2 grains in the pan and see how much that actually is since the trail boss is so fluffy I'm curious.

I plan to choose 3.3 to be 0.3 grains over the problem load I tried.

BUT I have some 3.4's already loaded that I haven't ran over the chrono if they all run right around 1000 I might just stick with that charge. (and be 0.4 away from not enough powder the bad 3.0 charge)

I do like a little safety buffer.
 
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